It depends on what you are going to do with it......

If you are going to do any type of sporty or fast riding, especially in trails, the manual is the only way to go....

CVT, no matter how advanced will never have the same torque on tap that a manual "in gear" trans will have. It is simply just not possible......

If you are in the woods and need to get the front end up in a split second, a manual trans in the right gear will be there..... a CVT always has a slight delay no matter what, it is simply their design by nature. I've been caught several times by CVTs in this way......

I think on hills they are much better than they used to be, they do spool much quicker then the old days...... however, on something like a 400cc machine A CVT will not have all that extra power to work with that a 700-800cc machine would have.... On those big machines, the torque of the engine can sometimes make up for the delay or soft hit of the power to the ground in a CVT setup.....

Unless you cannot shift, or don't want to be bothered I would go manual.... the fact that you've been shifting things your whole life makes me think you will get bored on a CVT, and that you will be less than happy with the inability to choose your own gear.

 

You can count the manual Utility ATVs still made on one hand, while the 99% left over are belt drive, so Take it from there. The biggest baddest manual Utility ATV still made is the 500 Foreman or Arctic Cat 500 and its had pressed to beat out most new 450s in any situation and will not out pull or out run any other (Belt) 500 or 450 Utility out there.

They do not even make a big bore Utility Manual ATV which tells you something.

Bottom line there are no Manual Utility ATVs made that are top in there class,or will be coming in first in any dead weight pull,Mud run,hill cimb or drag race contest.

The belt systems are the same system used on 150hp snowmachines so low powered ATVs (65hp tops) are a easy day for them.

There are a couple nice 400 class Manuals like the 420 Rancher,400 Big Bear and 400 King Quad FS but once you get to the 450-500cc its Belt drive all the way for performance.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: TLC
Bottom line there are no Manual Utility ATVs made that are top in there class,or will be coming in first in any dead weight pull,Mud run,hill cimb or drag race contest.<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>

But those aren't the things that thousands of average buyers are looking to do!

Most folks are just looking for a sweet handling mid size trail quad, at a reasonable price. Sure, manufacturers will sell a few top of the line big bores, but if they are smart, they can sell a hundred simple little trail quads like the Rancher 420 for every one of those lard a$$ big bores! That is where the real money is to be made in the marketplace!

 

I've had to tow out a few manual quads with my "rubberband drive" ATVs but never had to tow out an automatic. When you consider that the the majority of the people I ride with <u>have</u> CVTs, but they aren't the ones being towed, I think that says a lot about their durability. Kevlar belts are really tough too since it's stronger than steel. They don't snap like rubberbands. I have 3 different kinds of vehicles right now and all are automatics. I don't think I've had a manual shift ANYTHING in the last 30 years and the last one was a 2 speed Schwinn bike.

 

I prefer automatic 100%. My firts quad was an 87 warrior, then an 02 bayou, then an 05 Kodiak 450 (automatic) and then 06 Yamaha Warrior (automatic)

I want a newer warrior with power steering because I'm lazy!

Invitation to join us at our club

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: bsmtsavings

I prefer automatic 100%. My firts quad was an 87 warrior, then an 02 bayou, then an 05 Kodiak 450 (automatic) and then 06 Yamaha Warrior (automatic)



I want a newer warrior with power steering because I'm lazy!



Invitation to join us at our club</end quote></div>

Automatic Warrior????? Say what?????

Did you maybe mean Wolverine????

 

well i have both manual and a belt drive i like them both in there own way the manual is more controlable going up and down the steap hills. can keep your rpms were you want them at any speed. going down a steap grade my acticat 300 manual will crawl were my 700 grizzly will not do this i have to use the breakes. i would say for the more tecnicle riding (slow crawling) the acticat manual is were its best. but the 700 grizzly is alot beter at trail riding.. can pull the front tires and jump waterbars easy with a blip of the throtle. in mud they both do good. but the auto you just give it more gas no nead to worry about shifting. you don't loose tire speed tryin to shift and doesn't bog its always in the right gear. but the manual is better at crawling and i would say towing but thats it.

 

That is a great comparison, thanks vtpoolman.
I found a 2008 rancher 4x4 for $4799.
I am not certain I can justify the extra $2k to get an automatic, which is what the 2009 AT costs. I like the AT, and the thought of automatic, but not sure it is worth the inflated cost. Who knows, maybe it is worth it.

I will be doing mostly trail riding, but like the idea of the extra technical ability of the manual.
I am going to try to test ride some this weekend.

 

Let us know what you get.

BTW, Polaris has Active Decent Control on some of their ATVs and it gives you engine braking on all 4 wheels instead of just the rear. A flick of a switch turns it on. Even without it I have to give it the gas to go down hill most of the time. They don't freewheel downhill like when automatics first came out. I don't know if any other brand has anything like ADC but so far it's been very controlable. The Engine Braking System works so good that some days I don't use my brakes until I load my quad onto the the trailer. My brakes last A LOT longer than before. There are rebates up to $800 on Polaris until the end of the month if you're interested. I just got a 500 with a $500 rebate today.

P.S. Where you buy can be more important then what you buy. My nearest dealer (in Michigan!) got sued by the state of Ohio for illegal business practices. They were selling ATVs without titles and warranties, not prepping them, and stuff like that. There's no way I'm spending my money there. The next closest dealer doesn't sell as many different brands so there are less choices, but I don't get screwed around. I buy from the people I trust and if they quit selling Polaris I'll buy a Yamaha from them.

 

Hmmm, now you got me thinking about the 400 HO........ Thanks a lot!!!! LOL As if I don't already have enough decisions to make. LOL [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]